Aftermath
by AhhYesItsFangirly
Summary: Fanfiction for "A Sound of Thunder" (the short story), taking place directly after Eckels is killed. Travis and Lesperance try to get used to the world that Eckels has accidentally created, but Travis quickly discovers that this is not something he can do. Queue threats, pain, and even more loss.


_**A/N:**_ _After I read "A Sound of Thunder", I grew a huge attachment to Travis and Lesperance. I've since then written many stories about them, but this is the first one that directly relates to the events of "A Sound of Thunder" itself, and of a much darker genre. Warning in advance for suicide and language being prominent. Also, ah... I have no clue where to put this. I've seen at least one other "Sound of Thunder" fic in Misc. Books though, so I'm hoping that's the right place to put... it...? Ah, anyway, enjoy!_

After the gunshot, there was nothing but silence. All Lesperance could hear was his own breathing, which was quick and shallow and felt embarrassingly loud in the otherwise quiet room. His heart slammed against his chest, and his mind raced. He had worked here for years now; he had faced monstrous beasts of all shapes and sizes. But never had he been faced with something like this. Never had complete and utter _shock_ taken over his entire being. He turned away, shutting his eyes.

When Lesperance finally spoke, he found his throat felt rather dry and his words had to be forced from his mouth. "You… you killed him," he stated with disbelief. He had known Travis for years. For years he had been his assistant, and he _knew_ him. He did have a temper, but he was… kindhearted. And childish, in perhaps the most innocent of ways. He could not imagine him ever killing someone. Not like _this._

Travis nodded and let out a breathy chuckle, gun still pointed towards the lifeless body of Eckels. He panted softly and turned, eyes on Lesperance. Even though the latter was turned away, he could not help but shudder, swearing he could _feel_ the severe gaze of his hunting partner, surveying him much like a starving lion would an injured gazelle. And how accurate this was, thought Lesperance as a shiver ran down his spine.

"So?" Travis asked. Lesperance swallowed, not at all liking the cheerfulness in the other's tone. A sickening, absolutely giddy cheerfulness that most certainly did not fit the situation one bit. He suddenly made a quite animated gesture, throwing his arms in the air and spinning around. "Look at what he did!" he cried, voice cracking a bit. "He deserved it! He deserved much _worse_ than what he got, but with the limited amount of time I had, I had to… make do with what I had." He spun the gun around in a triumphant manner and laughed. Much to Lesperance's dismay, it sounded… maniacal. Maniacal and insane and still much too cheerful. He took a nervous step back.

"B- but Travis, you… you can't just kill people!" Somehow, Lesperance felt that trying to reason with Travis would be pointless and do very little to help his situation. Still, he could not help but _try_. He knew Travis. He considered him his friend! And… this was wrong. Every fiber of his body told him that it was wrong. Eckels had been an idiot, and had not listened, and had definitely made a rather unfixable mistake, but by no means did he deserve to be shot.

Travis let out a snort. "Sure I can! If they deserve it, who's to say I don't have a right to end their life?" He raised his gun once more, this time pointing it directly at his assistant's chest. Another maniacal, triumphant laugh left him. "Who's to say I don't have a right to end _your_ life?" His eyebrow twitched and he let out a chuckle.

Face going pale, Lesperance froze. Once more, his heart began pounding in his chest. He had faced so much. He had traveled over billions of years, stalking dinosaurs and shooting them with paint guns. Very, very, _very_ few people could say they have done the same. He had killed creatures that did not even _exist_ anymore. He was a hunter. If he were to die in any way other than completely naturally, he would have always assumed it would have been on a hunting trip. Being eaten. Losing a limb to some beast. Bleeding to death. Something… to do with what he loved. Not this. Not… not by being shot by his _friend_. "Why me?" he found himself asking, throat feeling very dry once again.

Travis cackled. "Why not? You're a coward. You're the reason I didn't just leave that fool-" (he pointed his gun back towards Eckels' corpse once more) "-back there where he belonged." When he spoke again, his voice mockingly went up an octave and he mimicked, "'_Take it easy, all he did was kick up some dirt._' That's what you said, isn't it?" He scoffed. Lesperance swallowed, not sure how to reply to this. He felt hurt, and offended, and… did not know how to react to these insults.

"Travis, I… we're friends, aren't we? You wouldn't… you wouldn't shoot me." But he _would_, Lesperance realized as terror began bubbling within the pit of his stomach. Travis was hardly Travis at all anymore. Any traces of who he had once been were gone, and pure insanity had replaced it. Time traveling did that to a person, Lesperance thought bitterly. The way it worked, how careful you had to be. You ended up snapping. It became too much for you. It was as though the single bolt still keeping Travis together had finally been able to withstand no more and given out, and his mental state had collapsed entirely. _He _had collapsed entirely.

Right now, Lesperance realized, he was in just as much danger as he had ever been while hunting.

There was a smirk on Travis' lips, and his eyes held a gleam of someone who had just done something illegal and gotten away with it. "I didn't need your assistance. Don't know why Time Safari even had you work with me. I can handle myself just fine. You're nothing but a coward that's repeatedly stood in my way." Lesperance was reminded vaguely of the feeling you get when salt manages to fall onto an open wound, but on a much deeper, more psychological level. "You're a nuisance and an idiot and… what the fuck, it's not like it matters anymore anyway. The time stream is ruined." He placed a finger on the trigger of his gun. Lesperance stared at him, cold panic rushing into his veins.

No, Lesperance thought desperately. He could not die. Not like this. He stared at his friend, or the man he had thought to be his friend, feeling betrayed and scared for his life. Instinct kicked in next – instinct telling him to survive at all costs. His gun was back at the machine. He had no weapon. And Travis did. In fact, he had a weapon that, if he made any sudden movements, would lead to his immediate death. So what was he to do? He could not die. That was all he knew. Death was absolutely not an option.

"But Travis, I… I…" What was he even going to say?! There was no talking himself out of this. Travis was _gone_. He may as well have been talking to a robot whose only command was to kill. No matter what you told it, it would carry out its order.

A laugh left Travis. "Don't want to die, hm?" he asked, taking a step closer. Lesperance blinked, eyes on Travis, wondering why he would ask such a thing in such a situation. Was it possible… that he was hesitating? He felt his heart slam against his chest once more, and desperation and the need to survive caused a spark of hope to ignite within him.

"No," the hunting assistant answered, trying to stop himself from shaking. He forced his eyes up, at Travis' face, and away from the gun pointed threateningly at his chest. "No, I don't,"

Travis wet his lips, giving Lesperance a look he had not seen before. It looked thoughtful, and… scared was not the perfect term, but it was the closest Lesperance could come up with. "We're stuck here," he breathed out, softly enough that his assistant barely caught it. "You… and I… everyone… we're all stuck in this world that _he_ created." He nodded towards Eckels. "This isn't right. I… I want things to just… go back to the way they were. Why did he have to be such a fucking idiot?!" He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

The room went quiet. Travis stared at Lesperance, Lesperance stared at Travis. There was still a gun before his chest, aimed at him threateningly. But he no longer felt threatened. In fact, he felt as though he was staring at a child. A lost child in the middle of a place he had never before seen, completely alone. Alone, and wanting out. "We… we can't fix it," Lesperance began hesitantly, wetting his lips and trying to gain control of a situation that was clearly out of his grasp. "But we can… get through it, right? Make… the best of the situation?" He let out a breathy, nervous chuckle, desperate to survive.

Travis shook his head. "Since I began this career, I've worked my ass off making sure that no matter what we did, what we killed, we would make it out alive, and the time stream would be safe. There's… there's no _point_ anymore."

"But… things… things will be okay…" Would they? Travis had a point. Both of them had spent every hunting session doing nothing but making sure that the future would remain safe. And now, here they were, the English language ruined and a dictator running their country (and who knows how many more changes had been caused...). And one thing was for certain – things most certainly could not go back the way they were.

Suddenly, the gun shifted a bit, and Lesperance winced. However, he saw it slowly change direction, no longer facing himself, but Travis. His eyes went wide. "T- Travis, what are you doing?!" he asked, swallowing hard and staring at his hunting partner. His companion. His _friend_.

Shaking his head again, Travis snapped, "The world's ruined. Time Safari's ruined. What's the fucking point?!" He stared at the gun for a long time. Lesperance eyed the other with worry. In any other situation, he would have been glad to have the gun no longer pointed at himself. He would have been nothing but _relieved_ to know that no longer was he in danger of being murdered. But not now.

"Please, Travis, don't-" Lesperance cut himself off mid-sentence. Travis was… not Travis. He was empty. Everything was ruined for him. _He_ could go on, he thought. He could make it through this strange new universe Eckels had managed to create. But he was starting to question Travis' ability to do the same. After all, this was the first time Lesperance had ever seen him look so… hollow before. As though nothing was left but a hard shell, the outermost parts of a being who had once been his best friend.

For the second time that day, a gunshot resounded throughout the building of Time Safari Incorporated, which was not quite Time Safari Incorporated at all anymore. And it was the last time the owner of the gun would ever touch the trigger again.

Lesperance was left alone.

**-End**


End file.
